Avatar: After the Legend
by sasuke12234
Summary: The year is now 20XX. Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra have both served their times as Avatar and a new Avatar is born. But with the shortage of benders, no one really knows if there is one for this ganeration...


**Book One:**

Fire

**Chapter One:**

The New Bender

* * *

_About eighty years ago, Avatar Korra went up against a group called 'The Equalist'. She was successful, along with help from her friends, in defeating the leader of the group, Amon. Even though she had defeated the leader of the anti-bending group, Korra was still afraid for her fellow benders because she knew that just defeating the leader of 'The Equalist' didn't mean that all anti-benders would disappear. Because of this realization, Korra decided that it would be safe for benders to be careful when bending and that it might be smart that they stay hidden from the non-bending world._

_With this plan most of the bending population went into hiding. The Water-bender moved to the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation, and the Fire-benders moved to either the North or South Water Tribes. Every bender tried their hardest to stay out of the eyes of potential Equalist members and suppress their feelings to want to bend their element. Because of this, most benders lost the drive and know how when it came to their special gift and are very rare to find now._

_Also, because of this, people believe that the line of the Avatar has ended with the last Avatar, Avatar Korra._

* * *

The year is 20XX and Republic City modernized faster than everyone had expected. It has the perfect balance of modernization and the past mixed in the rural areas of the city, but in the heart of the city everything was moving a thousand miles per hour.

"There are still benders around, but they are just hard to find now a days. Can anyone tell me of which bender type is really rare to find today?" A woman with long black hair and wearing black, dress pants and a dark purple blouse asked a classroom full of kids. She silently scans the classroom and then walks up to a desk toward the back, beside the middle window in the classroom. "Jai what about you, would you like to answer the question?"

The young girl, about sixteen, that the young middle aged woman asked was staring out the window, obviously ignoring the lesson and her teacher. She had caramel colored hair, with the bottom layer a type of rusty pink. She also had bright gold eyes, unlike her classmates who had normal shades of blues, browns, greens, and dark grays.

"Jai can you please answer the question?" The teacher asked as her temper rose an inch closer to her limit. The young girl still ignored her, her head still propped up by her hand and her eyes still locked on the city on the other side of the window. It was as if she had lost her hearing and was in another world. "Jai," the woman shouted as she slammed her hands on the girl's desk.

The girl named Jai jumped back in her seat from hearing the loud bang that came from her desk. "I'm sorry what the question?" Jai asked in fear.

Irritated the teacher stood up in front of Jai's desk and stared her down as she repeated the question. "Can you tell me which bender-type that is extremely rare to find today?"

Jai stared up at her teach as if she was thinking that her teacher was an idiot.

"Well?" The teacher said as she gestured for Jai to give her the answer. "Do you know the answer or not?"

"Oh I know the answer. I just don't want to say it." Jai replied back as she crossed her arms and sat back in her seat.

"Why is that?" The woman raised an eyebrow at her student.

"Because this lesson is stupid, that's why." Jai then pulled her legs up and rested her heals on the front of her chair. "I get why we need to learn about Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko, it's because they made Republic City. But, I think it needs to stop at Avatar Aang's death. Going into detail about all types of benders is really pointless to me, even when you're teaching it to a class full of non-benders. So can we just skip this lesson and go on to when the first Satomobile was made and stay off the 'Bending' topic?"

Jai had boredom and irritation written all over her face, this made her teacher irritated as well.

"Well then, young lady, if you don't agree with our school's standards then why did you sign up for my class?" The woman then crossed her arms and softly tapped her foot on the floor, waiting for a response.

"Because I like history," Jai replied. "But, if it's about a topic that doesn't involve me then I won't listen because in the end it's all pointless." Jai tried her hardest to make her point clear.

Before the woman could respond to her student's smart comment the end-of-day bell rang, signaling for the students to go home. Jai stood up out of her seat and started stuffing her books into her messenger bag.

"Make sure you finish the hand-outs I gave by tomorrow! I'll be taking them up for a grade!" The woman shouted as her students started to hurry out of the door. "That goes for you too Jai."

"Ya, ya I know. I'll finish the stupid bending sheet." Jai said as she swung her messenger bag strap over her head and started to head toward the door.

* * *

On the way home, Jai stopped at a little gas station store with her friend Kai to get something to drink.

"That'll be 30 Yuons." The cashier said as she rang up the second soda bottle. Jai handed the old woman the 30 yuons, that her and Kai put together, with a small, but cheerful "Here you go".

The two girls were then at Republic City Park, enjoying their sodas and resting before having to walk home again.

"So what with you in class today Jai?" Kai asked as she fed some turtle-ducks pieces of bread.

Kai had long, wavy black hair and dark green eyes. She was also, like Jai, wearing her school's uniform; a black knee length skirt with a white shirt tucked in and a black tie with one white stripe going horizontally across her tie, showing her grade. Kai and Jai were both in their first year in high school, their freshman year.

"Like I said before, 'If it's a topic that doesn't involve me, then I won't listen.' It's just a waste if you ask me, a teacher teaching non-benders about the history and functions of bending I mean. Besides benders are barely around today so why learn about them, they'll be gone soon enough thanks to Avatar Korra." Jai then started to shake her soda can in a circular motion, making the liquid inside move in a circular motion too.

"You sound like an Equalist Jai." Kai said as she looked back from the bank of the lake she was squatted down at. "You know that some of my ancestors were benders, so it worries me when you talk like that."

Kai's family used to be full of Earth-Benders, but because of wars, anti-benders, suppression of bending, and marring non-benders throughout time the trait sadly died in her family.

"Sorry, it just what I think about the teachings, not the people." Jai then slumped down on the bench she was sitting on, regretting what she said.

"It's ok. I know you mean no harm." Kai replied as she brushed off her black skirt. Kai then walked over toward the bench and sat down beside her friend. "So, the weather's nice don't you think?" Kai asked as she looked up at the clear blue sky above. "Not a cloud in sight, which means no rain." Kai always used the weather to cheer people up.

"I guess the weather's nice. But a few clouds would make it a bit nicer; I like the shade they give when they cover the sun."

"Ha-ha. That's just like you Jai. You're never one to like the heat."

Jai stared up at the sun as she shielded its rays from her face with her hand.

"I've always hated the heat." Jai then groan in annoyance from remembering something. "Crap, we have to use those stupid burners tomorrow in Science. I hate those."

"It'll be ok Jai. I'll be your partner tomorrow and I'll work the burner for you."

As far as she can remember, Jai never had luck with fire related things. Whenever she wanted to start a fire in her family's fireplace or oven, it never lit when she wanted it to light. Instead, the fire would surprise her every time and end up burning some bit of her body. One time when she was younger, about 10, Jai was cooking with her grandmother and her grandmother asked her to turn on one of the eyes that were on top of the oven. When Jai turned the knob to the temperature her grandmother asked for, the eye didn't light up. So Jai, being a novice at cooking at the time, turned the knob up a temperature, but it still didn't light. So she thought that she needed to turn it on all the way for the oven eye to light. When it still didn't light, she turned to her grandmother to state that something might be wrong with the stove. Then suddenly, the oven lit with a big flame shooting up at the young Jai and caught her hair on fire and slightly burning the back of her neck.

* * *

"I'm home." Jai yelled as she walked into her family's home.

Jai's mother, a short slender middle aged woman with long, dark brown hair, and amber brown eyes was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Her father, a broad shouldered middle aged man with neatly cut, dark brown hair and scruffy beard and the same golden eyes as Jai, was sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV.

"How was school honey?" Jai's mother asked as she poked her head out of the kitchen doorway.

"Good I guess. Nothing really happened to tell the truth." Jai replied, making sure to leave out the fight she had with her history teach, as she laid her book bag on the first step of the stairs leading to the second floor. Jai then walked over to the couch that her father was sitting at to see what he was watching. "I didn't know there was a match today." Jai said to her father as she sat down beside him.

On the television was a Pro-Bending match. Pro-Bending is a sport that has been popular in Republic City for many years. The sport consist of two three-man teams all of them being one of the three bender types, Firebender, Waterbender, or Earthbender.

"Who's playing tonight?" Jai asked.

"The Pygmy Pumas verses the Black Lizard-Crows." Jai's father said before he took a sip of his drink that he held in his hand.

"Didn't the Lizard-Crows already win last year's tournament?"

"Yep, they're going for a second win this year."

Jai and her father end up watching the rest of the Pro-Bending match, Jai not being that much interested in it as much as her father was. After the match Jai ate dinner with her parents and they each talked about their day, how work was for her parents and how school was for her.

"So, how is Grammy doing? Did her trip to the hospital go alright?" Jai asked, trying to change the subject.

"You know your grandmother Jai; she's stubborn as ever." Jai's father said with a grin and slight laugh.

"But did her physical go good?" Jai's mother asked her husband.

"Yes the doctor gave her a clean bill of health. But, they suggested that she start thinking about moving into a retirement home." Jai father answered.  
"Grammy will never move into a home. Doesn't her doctor know that?" Jai asked with a confused look on her face and began to call her grandmother's doctor stupid under her breath.

"Jai, honey, your grandmother is getting old. It's not good for her to live alone for the rest of her life." Jai's mother said.

"Well we have that spare room on the first floor. She can move in there and live with us." Jai suggested.

Suddenly Jai's father let out a huge and hardy laugh. "You and my mother are just inseparable Jai!"

Jai was a little embarrassed from her father's statement and slumped down in her seat.

* * *

As night fell Jai had just stepped out of the shower and into her bedroom. Her parents were fast asleep on the first floor of their home. Jai rubbed a towel over her wet hair before she decided to toss it over her desk chair that was in the corner of her room. Before Jai could crawl into her queen size bed she heard her cell phone ring from inside her book bag. She walked over to her desk, were her book bag was, and dug in it to find her little, silver colored flip phone. When Jai opened her phone she saw that she received a text message from her friend Kai.

_"Hey Jai, I know I promised to be your science partner for tomorrow's lab project but, something came up. I have to go out of town for a couple of days, family problems. I promise I'll make it up to you. Maybe the teacher can help with the burner. Again, I'm really sorry._

_-Kai"_

Anger suddenly flooded Jai's thoughts. W_hat_, Jai screamed in her head. _She was supposed to help me with the burner! She promised! And ask the teacher? What is that supposed to mean? She knows our science teacher hates me!_ Angered thought after angered thought just kept running around in Jai's head. Jai then quickly flung her cell phone at the wall, making it break in half on impact. As Jai stared at her broken phone she heavily, and angrily, inhaled and exhaled. She then eyed her desk chair that had her towel resting on it. Without thinking, Jai kicked the chair over and on to the floor.

She couldn't remember what exactly happened after she kicked her chair over. She didn't know if the chair legs pulled out spark plugs or something. All she knew was that the firry site in front of her made Jai fall over and stare in terror.

Her wooden desk chair was set ablaze by something that was unknown to Jai. The bright orange and red flames traveled from her chair to her desk, then her book bag, and then curtains. The fire casted an orange light over Jai's terrified face. She couldn't do anything. Jai wanted to scream and run out but her whole body felt paralyzed.

Jai continued to watch the fire spread all over her room. Going from her curtains, to the seam of the ceiling, to her queen sized bed, and to her closet filled with clothes and other things. The flames were getting closer to Jai. She could feel the heat of flames bring out the sweat drops that were running down her face. She tried to scream as the fire came closer and closer, but nothing came out of her mouth.

_This is it. I'm going to be killed by my worst fear. I'm going to die as a burnt corpse. I'm going to suffer._

As Jai began to brace herself for the fire's torturing flames she felt someone open her door behind her and pick her up. When the said person began running down the stairs, Jai looked up and saw that it was her father. As Jai's father burst through the front door, Jai prepared herself for the impact of the door, but she didn't feel one because her father was protecting her from any pain.

"Jai," Jai's mother screamed as she stood outside their home and saw her husband carry her out of the blazing house. After Jai's father set her feet on the ground, Jai instantly felt her mother embrace her in a loving hug. The hug made Jai turn and face the house and through her mother's dark brown hair she could see that the blaze escaped her room through her window and traveled down the outer wall to her parents' bedroom.

_They almost got burned alive like me. I almost killed us all._

In the distance Jai and her parents could hear the Fire Truck coming in their general direction. After the Fire Truck had pulled up in front of Jai's family's home they instantly went to work on watering down the inferno. Off in the background Jai was sitting on a bench that was facing toward the park that was in front of her home, with her mother holding on to her and reinsuring her that everything will be ok. Jai did nothing but burry her face in her mother's chest and clenched onto the over sized shirt that belonged to her father that her mother wore to bed. Jai wanted nothing better than to just wish that all that happened was nothing but a horrible dream.

"Ok, well they were able to stop the fire, but they said that your room is destroyed sweetheart." Jai's father said as he finished talking to the Fire Chief and then walked over to the bench that his wife and daughter were sitting at. After sitting down he saw his daughter's shaking body and began to rub her back to give her some reinsurance and protection.

"Do they know how the fire started?" Jai's mother asked with worried eyes.

"Well, after they stopped the fire they looked over Jai's room and saw that her phone was broken and it made them think that there was a gas leak in her room and the broken phone set it off." Jai's father replied.

_That can't be it. I broke my phone before the fire started. It started after I kicked my chair over. A wire had to be pulled._

"But when they took a closer look around the room for a gas leak, it didn't seem to be the case. So they looked for a different cause for the fire." Jai's father continued. "From what they could see, the fire started on her desk chair so they looked at the wiring that she had under her desk, they were all perfectly fine. Right now the Chief just told me that they're stumped on how it happened."

Jai's father gave his wife a look as he said his last sentence the she instantly understood. Jai's mother then mouthed a sentence saying like "You don't think she could've…" with worried eyes. Her husband lightly nodded. He then gave his daughter's back one last reinsuring stroke and then stood up from the bench.

"So, sweetheart, what do you think about staying at your grandmother's for a little bit?" Jai's father asked her.

Jai didn't respond she just kept her head buried in her mother's chest. The only way that she decided to tell her father that she liked the idea or not was by loosening up her grip on her mother's shirt for the meaning of a yes.

* * *

"What happened to your house?" An elderly woman with faded dark brown hair and golden orange eyes asked in shock.

"We just had a little house fire mother, calm down." Jai's father said as him and his wife and daughter walked into his mother's home.

"I wouldn't call the whole half of your home being burned down a _little _house fire. Jai, sweaty, are you ok?" Jai's grandmother asked as she looked her granddaughter over for serious burns.

Jai stayed quiet throughout the whole drive to her grandmother's. She was too frightened by the fire to want to even make a little sound. All she could do to communicate was do what she was told and give little nods here and there.

Jai's grandmother gave her a loving hug. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that honey. Everything is going to be fine from now on."

"Honey, why don't you go up to your room and try to sleep." Jai's mother suggested.

Jai gave a slight nod of her head and slowly began to walk to the stairs and up to her personal bedroom that she had at her grandmother's.

The living room of Jai's grandmother's home was quiet until everyone heard Jai's bedroom door quietly closed.

"So how did the fire start?" Jai's grandmother asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"The Fire Chief said that they couldn't figure it out all they know was that it started at her deck chair." Jai's father replied.

"Well then, doesn't that make it obvious? If it started at her chair then maybe some of those wires under her desk short circuited and caught it on fire."

"They said her chair was knocked over and the fire started on top of it."

A questioning look came over Jai's grandmother's face.

* * *

Up in Jai's bedroom, Jai was laying on her bed in the dark, staring at the running ceiling fan endlessly circle around.

_What exactly happened? Why can't I exactly remember anything?_

Flickers of the fire came and went from Jai's memory. Then moments from before began to appear. The text message that she received from her friend Kai, the anger it caused, and then her kicking over her desk chair.

Jai then sat up on her bed and ran her fingers through her, still wet, hair.

"Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much." Jai said to herself out loud. "My adrenaline is obviously keeping me up. Maybe a glass of warm milk will help me go to sleep."

Jai then swung her legs over to the side of her bed and sat up. She then scratched the back of her head before getting up and walking over to the door. When she arrived at the first step of the stairs that lead down to the first floor she could hear her parents and grandmother talking.

"Do you honestly think it might be possible that she could be?" Jai heard her mother ask.

Jai then slowly walked down the steps, stopping and taking a seat on the middle step, to try to hear the conversation better.

"It's a strong possibility. I mean, you two both had parents with the trait and even though you two don't have it, that doesn't mean that Jai wouldn't have gotten it." Jai's grandmother said.

_Gotten what? _Jai thought to herself. She then moved down one more step.

"But mother, how can Jai be able to have the trait? Miyoko and I were never able to bend, we have always been non-benders. We never showed signs of being benders and neither has Jai." Jai's father stated.

"Well, the gene stayed dormant within you two and I guess became dominate in Jai. If she is a bender, like myself, then that would explain how the fire started at the top of her desk chair."

Jai could hear a scratching metallic noise of some kind, which meant that her grandmother was spinning her wedding ring on a table; a sign of her thinking hard for an answer.

"Do the two of you know what her personality was like before the fire?" Jai's grandmother asked.

_I got really mad and threw my phone at the wall__._

"No." Jai's mother replied.

"We were asleep about the time it started." Jai's father finished.

"Well, if I remember my first time correctly, when I found out that I was a Firebender, I remember being so mad that my hands started to burn and next thing I knew my fist were engulfed in fire. But that was so long ago, I could be a little wrong." The spinning of Jai's grandmother's ring stopped. "Poor thing, if Jai really is a Firebender, she's going to hate it. Her and fire have never really had an agreement to coexist with each other. I just hope she learns to work with it and not against it, unlike how I did at first."

"Mother what do you think we should do about this? We obviously can't teach her how to control it and you never really advanced in your bending." Jai's father said.

"I know! That's just because I never really needed it except for house work and protection here and there." Jai's grandmother snapped back at her son for his, somewhat insulting, comment about her. This made Jai giggle a little.

Jai's grandmother took in a deep sigh. "Look, I have a friend that I play Mahjong with sometimes and she has a grandson who's been a Firebender since a young age. She told me that when he was thirteen his parents enrolled him in this school just for benders since he obviously wanted to get better at his bending. From what she's told me he's exceeded past his own parents' and masters' abilities and right now colleges from all over are sending him gifts so that he would enroll at their school and play on their school's Pro-Bending College League team. I guess what I'm saying is, maybe we should send Jai to that school so that she can learn the foundations of Firebending and finish out her school work without worrying about burning down the school."

Jai's parents were quiet but her father soon replied with a, "You may be right."

After her father's words were spoken, something made Jai jump from the step she was sitting on and run down and into the open kitchen where everyone was.

"I refuse!" She screamed. "I refuse to go to a school full of benders! I refuse to accept the possibility of being a Firebender! I refuse to do any type of Firebending training what so ever!"

* * *

End of Chapter One

Feedback is greatly loved.


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